Just Another Day
by LanieSullivan
Summary: Secret marriages are no fun and lead to one woman not enjoying the start of a new year.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

 **January 1, 1988**

New Year's Day, but for her, today was no different than every other day when she walked into the office. She'd greeted the matron at the front desk with her normal cheery, "Good morning, Mrs. Marston." The other woman, of course, had replied in kind, but just like every time before that, when she heard the friendly greeting as she was handed her badge, she gave an inward shudder at the use of her old name. So many times she had just wanted to scream and rail at her, "That's NOT my name!" and today was no different. But she didn't...she couldn't. So, instead, she had just smiled, nodded and moved on, headed to her office and begun her workday.

She could hardly blame Mrs. Marston. It's not as if anyone at the Agency knew she'd remarried...well, there was ONE person, of course, but he was in the same boat she was in...he couldn't exactly say anything to anyone either. It wasn't quite as hard on him at work though. He always had a ton of stuff going on, people always demanding his time and it wasn't as if HE were being called by the wrong name all the time, was it? She knew she was being too hard on him. This was what they'd both agreed on and it was necessary for them to be together and both still keep their jobs. How would it look if the truth came out?

She let out a sigh as she sat down in front of the computer screen staring at the pile of paperwork waiting for her. "Oh, well," she muttered as she reached for the first file in the inbox. "Might as well get started." She was known for being the best at doing this. That was why she'd come in early today on the holiday, so she could work in peace and not have to share the office and risk being distracted. She knew that no one else of the skeleton crew scheduled to work today would be in this early. They'd all been out partying the previous night. She, however, had not. Sure, she'd gone to a party, but it hadn't held much appeal to her when she'd gone alone. As usual, she and her husband had had to pretend that they were nothing more than co-workers. She glanced at the pile in her inbox and just knew that there was a lot of data entry to be done and knew that it was always left for her to do. Not that she minded. It was a part of her job, after all. Sometimes she just wished other people in the office could see her as something other than the old reliable...that they could see her like he did.

She couldn't help smiling as she thought of the secrets they kept, the few warm nights they spent in each other's arms, how they'd laughed together at the antics of their co-workers when no one else was around or sometimes just talked...like last night. They'd both made their excuses to leave the party early...separately, of course, just so they could share a private midnight kiss. She sometimes had to force herself to remember those blissful little moments because she missed him desperately when they weren't together, but at least things were beginning to look up on the home front. Her family was starting to get to know him and that was a good thing. Sure, it had been a struggle at first. He'd balked when she'd first brought the idea to his attention, saying that he was no good with kids, but now he was a natural at it. Then there was the fact that with all that the boys had been through, there had been some trust issues, but now the children really enjoyed having him around. She was hoping that very soon, they'd be able to reveal their secret marriage to at least those closest to her.

She thought of how different he'd become since she had first met him. He had been quite the loner, always going to parties, hobnobbing with the elite, usually with a different girl on his arm at every one of them, women like Elisa Danton. He had never made a real connection with any of them though; they were just arm candy. She had teased him about it endlessly about how he protested so much that he liked being alone, yet never wanted to be seen going anywhere alone. As she worked, she couldn't help letting out a little chuckle at that thought and found herself very glad that she was the only one in the office at the moment.

Having finished her current task, she set the folder in her outbox to be filed later and reached for the next one. As she opened it and looked it over, her thoughts were suddenly yanked back to the present. "I'll be damned! They really did it!" she said aloud as she thumbed through the thick folder of documents in her hand. She found herself seething with jealousy for a moment, but immediately tamped that thought down. Who was she to begrudge someone else a little happiness? Still, she couldn't help staring at the request forms in front of her and wish they were hers...and well...his.

She'd heard the big announcement, of course, but she couldn't quite believe it until seeing it now in black and white even though she'd long suspected it anyway since she already knew of the man in question requesting information on his benefits package. She and her husband had had quite a few laughs about it behind closed doors and in fact just yesterday, he'd told her to expect the paperwork that was now in her hands, with a jovial, "Looks like Scarecrow's finally had the stuffing knocked out of him."

She set it down beside her and had just begun to type again when her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door and a perfunctory, "Good morning, Mrs. D'Angelo."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Good morning, Mr. Patterson." She couldn't help rolling her eyes though, knowing he never made so much as the slightest eye contact with her even though they worked in the same office. Not that she cared. She knew all about his insatiable appetites and couldn't help noticing he looked like roadkill, no doubt from whatever debauchery he'd been up to the night before. No thank you. She had all she needed...well...almost all. She let out another sigh, that involuntary inner shudder coursing through her once again at Patterson's use of the wrong name. _One more year,_ she thought hopefully. _Only one more year remains until retirement and then I no longer have to hide the fact that I'm married to the boss._ She glanced at the new calendar on her wall where, just as she had last year, she would mark off the days one by one and long for the day when she could openly be Mrs. Austin Smyth. Until then, today was just another day.

 **AN:** As usual, I would like to ask a simple courtesy of my readers: Please do not spoil the ending for other readers in reviews or public comments. That includes stuff like "I figured out the ending," "You surprised me with who it was," or any other variation of that because that also tells other readers that there IS something to reveal or surprise them. Please be courteous of others in allowing them to be able to be able to enjoy for themselves. Thank you.


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